Sign the Petition to

Musicians invited to play the Red Sea Jazz Festival (9-11/2/2017)

The Red Sea Jazz Festival is a bi-yearly event in Israel's city of Eilat. The festival could have been a festival to celebrate the
free spirit of Jazz music, and this beautiful tradition of oppressed
minorities. Instead, it is a government event of propaganda, which uses Jazz music as a tool for whitewashing military
occupation, apartheid and oppression of the Palestinian people:

"We see culture as a Hasbara [public relations] tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between Hasbara and culture" ~ Nissim Ben-Sheetrit, former deputy director general of the Israel Foreign Ministry

In view of this, we ask Jazz Musicians: Please cancel your participation in the
festival.

We ask people from all around the world: Add your signature to this ongoing campaign to boycott the Red Sea Jazz Festival.

More detailed information on the Red Sea Jazz Festival's involvement with government and corporate below.

We are concerned people from all around the world who oppose Israel's continuing displacement of the Palestinian people via military occupation and apartheid policies [1]. We write to you in order to make sure that you are aware of all the moral implications of performing in Israel at this time. We ask that you postpone your concerts, to a time when Israel ends its military occupation and apartheid policies.

It is impossible not to address the venue of the festival and its history. Between the year of 1947-1948 Israeli militias committed ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian population of Palestine. Over 500 villages were destroyed, massacres of thousands resulting in the fleeing of half the population in fear for their lives [2]. We refuse to forget that Eilat stands on what was once a Palestinian village called Umm Rashrash [3], and the whole area was renamed after the military operation of ethnic cleansing, barefacedly named "Uvda", which is Hebrew for "Fact", as in "creating facts on the ground". Israel's Tourism Ministry, one of the initiators of the Red Sea Jazz Festival, you're about to take part in, has no qualms about using this name [4].

The Eilat Red Sea Jazz Festival is in no way separate from the government and its policies. It is "initiated by Eilat city hall aid by Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism, Eilat Sea Port, Eilat Hotel Association and various business sponsors" [5]. The reality of Israel at present is that all government ministries are in one way or another involved in the oppression of the indigenous Palestinian population, fundamentally utilizing civilian aspects of the government and civil society to uphold, sustain and perpetuate the military occupation. Particularly relevant for you is the fact that Israel's government openly uses cultural events in order to divert attention from its war crimes [6]:

"We see culture as a Hasbara [public relations] tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between Hasbara and culture" ~ Nissim Ben-Sheetrit, former deputy director general of the Israel Foreign Ministry

The Israeli Ministry of Tourism advertises and facilitates tourism in occupied Palestinian territories [7], and facilitates tours for artists such as you, as part of generating photo-ops : "video and stills footage of the singer and her entourage, both during the concerts and visits to tourist sites in Israel, to be used in international marketing campaigns." [8]

The Ministry of Culture supports the settlement construction in the West Bank, and actively silences protestation of this war crime [9].

Governmental forces are joined by corporate forces if we examine Eilat Sea Port (Eilat Port Company Ltd.), One of its owners being and Israel's government via the Israel Ports Development & Assets Company Ltd. [10] The same Israeli government has besieged Gaza port, closing down not only any means of trade, but also one of the main venues of livelihood.

Due to all this, in past years, other jazz musicians have also cancelled their participation in the Red Sea Jazz Festival, including Stanley Jordan, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Strickland, Cassandra Wilson, Meshell Ndegeocello, Los Hacheros, Carlo Mombelli, Eddie Palmieri, Jason Morana, Portico Quartet, Tuba Skinny, Andreas Öber, Chris "Daddy" Dave, Pino Palladino, Kebbi Williams, Isaiah Sharkey, Matt Schofield. Since Jazz festivals have become one of Israel's most commonly used forms of public relations, many jazz, blues and soul musicians have cancelled their performances at similar state-initiated Jazz festivals. Others have cancelled after learning of the political situation here. Some names which come to mind are Gil Scott-Heron, Carlos Santana, Cassandra Wilson, Meshell Ndegeocello, and The Other Day*.

The Red Sea Jazz Festival could have been a festival to celebrate the free spirit of Jazz music, and this beautiful tradition of oppressed minorities. Instead, it uses music as a tool for whitewashing military occupation, apartheid and oppression of the Palestinian people. In view of all this, we are asking you: Please cancel your participation in the festival. Boycott Apartheid.